


Benny Boy

by Chia_Roscuro



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Tommy Boy (1995)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, no one asked for this, rich boy poor girl, selling auto parts, tommy boy au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-03 05:33:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13334526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chia_Roscuro/pseuds/Chia_Roscuro
Summary: Ben Solo, family screw-up, needs to save Solo Auto Parts by embarking on a road trip to sell one million brake pads. His companion? Rey, a bookish nobody accountant at the factory tasked with keeping Ben in line. The only problem? Rey can't stand him.Will Ben save the factory? Will Rey and Ben learn they are more alike than they are different? And what's Ben's new stepbrother Hux up to?This is the Tommy Boy/Star Wars cross over you need but never knew you wanted.





	1. Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this started off as a complete crack fic but I couldn't get the idea out of my head. I hope you enjoy!

Rey couldn’t believe she let herself get talked into picking Han Solo’s idiot son up from the airport. 

She brushed her brown hair out of her eyes and sighed audibly, thinking about how she was just doing this as a favor to her boss. She usually stayed under the radar and went unnoticed by pretty much everyone, especially the owner of the company himself. It was probably just a useless errand but when Han Solo specifically asked her to pick up Ben, she couldn’t say no. Rey had been working at Solo Auto Parts since high school and had worked her way up to the accounting department. Solo Auto Parts employed half of her small town of Jakku, Ohio and the owner “Big Han” Solo, was a charming mechanical genius. His son, Ben on the other hand...well it seems like the apple fell pretty far from the tree.   
Ben was away at college, and had finally graduated. Rey and Ben had been at high school together, and though he was two grades ahead of her in school, Rey had graduated high school with honors, graduated from Jakku Community College, and been working for Solo Auto Parts for four years in the time it took him to finish college. And he had been sent to some fancy New England college Rey couldn’t have afforded in her dreams, she thought to herself with a frown. Some people have all the luck.

Her resentful train of thought was cut short by the arrival of her long awaited guest. 

Oh, God, he was even more goofy looking than she remembered. He stumbled off the tiny airplane laughing with the pilot. Rey bet they were probably best friends now, Ben had a way of making everybody like him, like he could somehow make people forget what a big tall idiot he was. At least she was too smart to fall for his charming little prince routine. 

“Ben. Finally” she greeted with a deadpan.

“Rey! How are you? Why isn’t my dad here?”

“He was here. Five hours ago when you were supposed to be. Some people have businesses to run and can’t wait around all day.”

He at least had the decency to look a little chagrined, and ran his hand nervously through his wavy black hair. “Well I tried calling..”

“Oh, really?” Rey asked with a quirked eyebrow. “What number did you call?

“Uh, 2..4…7….niner…”

“I can’t hear you. You’re training off. Did I catch a niner in there? Were you calling from a walkie talkie?” She hoped he caught her sarcasm, she was laying it on pretty thick. 

“So Rey, I finally graduated!” He said excitedly, obviously trying to change the subject.

“Yep, and just a shade under a decade too. Congratulations.”

“Hey, a lot of people go to school for seven years.

“Yeah, Ben,” Rey said with a sigh, “they’re called doctors.” A slamming sound diverted her attention to what appeared to be a taped together trash bag being unloaded from the cargo area of the plane. “Oh…that has to be you”, she said. “You spray that thing for bugs?” 

His only reply was another nauseatingly goofy laugh. “So my dad says he has a surprise for me. Do you know what it is?”

“Sure don’t,” replied Rey. “Why don’t you get in the car? The sooner I get you home, the sooner I can get back to work.”

Rey’s car was her pride and joy, and she had spent the last several years adding customizations and fixing up. It ran like a dream, even though it looked a little cobbled together. She was used to making do with whatever she could find, and had come across many parts in salvage yards, she was a little embarrassed to admit. 

“Wow the car looks good.” Said Ben, tossing his bag in the backseat. Is this the same one you used to work on after school?”

“You remember that?” Rey asked, and then mentally kicked herself for acting like she cared. She didn’t even like Ben Solo and she didn’t want to reminisce about high school, so why was she even talking to him? She should have stuck with the witty remarks, like she was best at. 

“Oh yeah”, replied Ben, “everyone knew you were into cars, that’s why you work for my dad right? You in development for parts now?”

“No, accounting.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s practical.”

“You should talk to my dad about development.”

“Why do you care?”

He paused for a moment and before he could say anything Rey noticed he had put his bag of M&M’s on the dashboard which had tipped over when she took a turn. “No, no, no!”, she shouted as the candy spilled behind the dash. “Oh, perfect, melted chocolate. Yeah that’s gonna be great for the engine.”

Ben scrambled to try to pick up the candy and put it back in the bag. “It’s okay Rey, they have a thin candy shell.”

“Your brain has a thick candy shell.”

They spent the rest of the car ride in silence until finally she pulled up at the Solo mansion. Time to deliver the spoiled little prince back to his castle, she thought to herself, and I can go back to the junkyard. Just like high school, just like always. 

“I’m sorry about the candy, Rey. I’ll make it up to you. Maybe we can go out for chicken wings?” He smiled eagerly.

Chicken wings? Wow, what an offer. He was probably trying to be nice, but all Rey could see was the spoiled rich moron who never has to deal with consequences. “No thanks. And don’t forget to take your garbage bag. Don’t need any vermin in my car.”

Ben gathered his things and walked into the house. Perfect Ben Solo, with his perfect house. His mother was a wealthy heiress and state senator and even though his parents were divorced they still got along and still gave Ben absolutely everything. 

Hours later, when Rey got home to her little apartment sandwiched between the railroad tracks and the garbage dump, she was still thinking of that stupid smile and irritating laugh. It was because she hated him, she decided. That must be what it was, because she hated how privileged he was and how ungrateful he was for it. 

Tomorrow she would go to work and stay in the accounting office with the other nerds, and she was not going to think about Ben Solo ever again.


	2. Brothers Gotta Hug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brothers don't shake hands. Brothers gotta hug.

Ben mentally berated himself on the walk into the house. Chicken wings? Yeah, Rey would love to go out for chicken wings with her boss’ dumb son, he thought. She’s probably too busy with a MENSA meeting or building another car from scratch.

It had been nice to see her again, but he hadn’t remembered her hating him so much. Maybe she was just annoyed she had to pick me up from the airport, he wondered. He wished his mom had been there to get him, but she was probably off saving whales or bringing water to some impoverished village or whatever it was she did with her spare time now. 

He threw his bag over his shoulder and walked in the house, putting a big smile on his face. It would be nice to be home. College had been fun, well, maybe a little too fun come to think of it, but nothing like good old Jakku, Ohio. 

“Benny Boy!”, came a bellowing voice from the front room, “there he is!” Well, showtime, thought Ben to himself.

Hi Dad,” Ben said, as he was engulfed in a hug. 

“Look at you, mister big time college grad!” Han Solo was in his early sixties, with gray hair and a gruff voice, but his eyes still sparkled with all the charm in the world. He had managed to get the country’s most eligible bachelorette once, but couldn’t keep her. Ben had spent his childhood raised mainly by his father with visits and holidays with his mother Leia peppered in here and there. 

“It’s good to be home,” said Ben with a smile. He wondered about the “surprise” his father had promised him on the phone a few days ago. He really hoped it wasn’t a car. Even though he was the heir apparent to a nationwide auto parts company, and supposedly genetically predisposed to mechanical genius-both on his father’s side and his mother’s-he was never very good at fixing things, or making heads or tails of what engine parts were supposed to go where. He remembered a particularly traumatic occasion, when he was twelve years old, with his father buying him a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro with the intention of father son bonding while working to restore it to its former glory. Ben was pretty sure there were still marks on the garage wall from an unfortunate incident involving a toolbox and a socket wrench after his frustration had gotten the better of him. 

But he didn’t have to wonder much longer, as Han excitedly led him through the house and towards the pool. “Remember I told you I had a surprise for you, Benny?”

It was then that Ben noticed they were not alone. Coming out of the pool was a tall, striking woman in her late thirties or early forties. She had short, blond hair slicked back by the water, and blue eyes. She was wearing a chrome colored bathing suit that left little to the imagination.

Dumbstruck by this new development, Ben tried to connect what this stranger and his father and the word surprise had to do with each other. “Is…is that for me?”

Han laughed. “No, son, that’s for me.”

“You must be Ben,” the woman said with a smile. “My name is Phasma. And you are just adorable.”

“Nah,” Ben said with embarrassment. His father was dating this woman? Ben knew he’d had a few girlfriends over the years but nothing was ever serious, and he’d only ever met them in passing. After his parent’s divorce, Han had mainly been married to his job. Why would he be so excited about introducing them, thought Ben to himself, unless…

His train of thought was interrupted when Han put his arm around Phasma and said, “Son, I’ve got an announcement to make. I’ve asked Phasma to be my wife.” 

“Wow,” replied Ben, more than a little bit shocked. A few moments passed in silence. Say something, Ben! He chastised himself. “….What did she say?” he followed up. Not that, idiot. 

A few minutes later, they were drinking iced tea at the table, and Han was telling the story of how they had met. Phasma worked at a casino he had stopped at on one of his sales trips, and he’d challenged her to a poker game, betting on the opportunity to take her to dinner. “Now, that we’re getting married,” said Phasma, “I can admit that I let him win.” Ben and Han both laughed. “Sure you did, sweetheart,” Han said with a smile.

Ben couldn’t believe his father was really getting married. He’d missed being part of a family and having a mother figure around all the time. He loved Leia dearly, but he’d always thought she valued her political and activist causes more than him. He was going to have a stepmother! And they were getting married this Saturday, no less. His surprise was starting to turn to genuine happiness. 

“And the best part is, kid, Phasma has a son about your age.” 

Phasma smiled and turned to Ben. “It sounds funny saying this, but my son is going to be your new brother.”

“Brother?”, said Ben, with genuine joy. “I’m gonna have a brother? I’ve always dreamed about having a brother!”

The doorbell rang. “Speak of the devil,” said Han. 

Ben raced to the door. This was by far the best surprise of the evening. He was going to have a brother! He’d always felt like the black sheep of his small, broken family, but in one day he was getting a stepmother and a stepbrother.

He opened the door and was met with a thin, pale skinned man with bright red hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a black leather jacket and had his hair short at the sides and slicked back at the top. 

“Brother?” greeted Ben with excitement.

“Ah, you must be Ben,” the redhaired man said in a measured tone with a slight accent. “My name is Armitage Hux. A pleasure to meet you.” He extended his hand.

“Oh, no brothers don’t shake hands. Brothers gotta hug!” Ben wrapped his arms around his soon-to-be stepbrother and squeezed him in a hug. Hux was obviously very surprised and tried to extricate himself from Ben, with thinly veiled annoyance. 

“That’s…not necessary.” Hux said with a strained voice. 

Phasma and Han appeared behind Ben and welcomed Hux into the house. After a few minutes of exchanging pleasantries, Han suggested that the boys go out for a while and get to know each other. Ben jumped at the opportunity. 

“So, Armitage is an interesting name,” said Ben as they were getting in the car. “Do you ever go by a nickname?”

“No,” replied Hux curtly. But then he seemed to think better of his rudeness and added, “I’m not a fan if nick names. You could call me Hux though.”

“Hux,” Ben replied, trying out the name. “What about Armie? I like Armie.”

“Do not ever call me that.”

Ben laughed good naturedly and thought about where they should go. He started to suggest a variety of fast food and ice cream places, mentioning that the nachos at the local bowling alley were “out of this world”.

“Isn’t there anything to do in this town besides eat?” Hux asked tersely.

“Oh sure. Tons of stuff. Late night pitch and putt. We go to the livestock auction and cruise the 4 -H babes. Throw stuff off the bridge. What do you feel like doing?”

“I don't know,” said Hux with a mischievous glint in his eye. “Something a little more…dangerous.”

Ben looked over in surprise. He thought back to his days in high school with the old gang, and all the dumb and fun stuff they’d get up to. He suddenly thought of something he could do with his cool new brother. “Sure. All you can handle bro.”

They arrived at a field near the edge of town and looked out over the pasture. “Look, Armie, pretty maids all in a row. I want the one on the left. Which one do you want?” 

Hux grimaced and asked in an annoyed tone, “does it make a difference?”

“Sure it does,” said Ben with enthusiasm. “Wait, is this your first time?”

“Yeah, Benny, it is.”

“Oh, you're gonna remember this the rest of your life. I can't believe you've never been cow tipping before. Get ready to live!”

They quietly hopped the fence and approached a pair of cows on the field. Ben took it upon himself to show Hux the ropes and explain how it worked. “She's sleeping. What you do is put your shoulder into her and you push.

“And?”

“They fall over.” 

“And this doesn't strike you as kind of dumb?”

Ben laughed heartily. “We're family. We're gonna be doing lots of dumb stuff together.”

As they sneaked closer to the cows and prepared to push them over, the light in the farmhouse on the property turned on, and Denise, the farmer who owned the land, came out with a shotgun, bellowing “Hey! You boys get off my property!”

Hux and Ben started to make a run for the fence, but the noise had woken up and startled the cows, In the confusion, Ben fell to the ground into a puddle of mud. Worried for Hux, he started shouting. “Brother! Where are you? I’ll save you, brother!”

Having escaped the stampede, Ben and Hux made their way back to car and to a gas station a mile away. 

Hux was furious, and immediately located a water hose to start cleaning off his boots. 

“These shoes are Italian,” snarled Hux. “They’re worth more than your life.”

“Hey, you wanted to do something dangerous, Armie” said Ben with a laugh, “nothing gets the adrenaline pumping better than that. Hey, do me next.” He gestured to the hose. “I’m covered in mud head to toe.”

Hux started spraying him in the face with the water hose, and wrinkled his nose. “Hey, Benny boy. That doesn’t smell like mud.” 

“Hey, Ben, you eat a lot of paint chips as a kid?”

“No. Why?”

Hux rolled his eyes, but Ben barely noticed his annoyance. It was good to have a brother.


	3. Wedding Bells

Rey was nursing her second cup of coffee in ten minutes, trying to recover from a restless night and a new record for hitting the snooze button-fifteen times.

A stack of paperwork hit her dusk with a dull thud and she groaned. “What now, Finn?”

Finn just laughed. Finn was a year older than her and had been at the small town high school at the same time as her and Ben. He was a friendly, cheerful person and the head of shipping. Finn was impossible not to like. Rey had no idea how he could be so smiley every day. Maybe she’d ask him for lessons sometime when her head wasn’t pounding. 

“Here’s last week’s drivers expense reports. Fresh and hot.” Finn grabbed a nearby chair and sat down on the other side of her desk. “Hey, you don’t look so great, Rey. What’s up?”

“Just a bad night’s sleep.”

“Nothing to do with the sudden reappearance of a certain dark-haired giant?” Finn quirked his eyebrow and looked at Rey with an amused smile. ‘Hey, remember when we were in high school, and you- “

“Keep your voice down,” hissed Rey. “This isn’t high school anymore. And no, nothing to do with Ben. I couldn’t care less about him.”

“Mmmhmm. Ok, well Miss I-Couldn’t-Care-Less, Han wants to see you. He’s upstairs with the guys from the bank and want’s you to bring up the projections for the new brake pad line. I’ll come with you, I have a few papers that need his signature.”

Rey gathered the necessary reports and she and Finn headed up to Han Solo’s office. The new brake pad line was Han’s pride and joy. As she approached she could hear him talking to Mr. Ackbar from the bank about it. 

“You say these brake pads are going to revolutionize the industry?” asked Mr. Ackbar.

“You better believe it,” said Han with pride. “Composed of high grade steel and graphite. They're the Rolls Royce of brake pads. I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it.”

Rey entered the room, smiling to herself. She knew everything about the new brake pad line and absolutely believed it was going to be a best seller. She’d overheard the development team discussing them months ago and even gotten a hold of the blueprints. They were the future of Solo Auto Parts. Rey stood near the doorway and waited to be acknowledged.

“Hi, Rey,” said a voice to her left. She looked over and saw a gangly mass of unkempt black hair. What was he doing here? She thought. The edges of her mouth turned down and her brow furrowed to a frown. He had a sort of hopeful looking smile and she sighed in annoyance.

“Hey, Ben, buddy!” said Finn with his trademark enthusiasm. “Congrats on graduating!”

“Hello, Ben,” Rey said coolly. “What are you doing at the factory? Is it take your son to work day?”

“I work here now. I have my own office at the end of the hall and everything.”

Annoyance turned to anger. “Your own office? Ah, why shouldn’t you? You’ve been here, what, ten minutes?”

Before he could reply, Han called her over. Finn stayed back and caught up a little with Ben. She tried to ignore the fact that they kept looking over at her and focused on presenting the new line. They discussed numbers and projections for a few minutes with the bankers. After Mr. Ackbar and the others left, Han turned to Rey and put his hand on her shoulder. “Thanks for the presentation Rey. You’re really on top of things, you seem to know as much about the new line as I do!”

Rey blushed at his words. She wasn’t used to receiving praise, especially from someone she respected as much as Han. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.”

“Hey, kid, I’ve got a project for you if you’re up to it.”

Rey looked up in surprise. Had Han noticed her technical skill? Was this going to be her big break?

“I was wondering if you could help out Ben, you know, show him the ropes. I’ve got a wedding to get ready for tomorrow, and Ben needs to get ready to take over the family business someday!”

Perfect. A babysitting job. Didn’t seven years at college teach him enough? Han didn’t wait around for an answer. “Thanks kid,” he said and patted her on the back. “See you back at the house Benny boy! Don’t work too hard!” He laughed and left the office, leaving Rey glaring angrily at Ben and Ben at least having the decency to look embarrassed. 

Finn walked out with Han to get the required signatures on his documents. When he came back, he saw Rey was staring angrily at Ben. “Hey, Ben, why don’t you take Rey here to the wedding?”

Rey glared at Finn and his self-satisfied smirk.

“Sure, Finn, why not?” Ben seemed to enjoy her embarrassment. Her wit always left him without a comeback, but maybe he had a chance to tease her now. “Of course you’re invited, Rey. Of course you’d have to dress up a little, do you have anything besides Dickies and button up shirts?”

“I don’t think I’ll get much use out of my dancing shoes when I have to tutor you on how to run your own business.”

“You don’t have to-“started Ben.

“Don’t,” Rey interrupted. “I’m not your baby sitter. Here.” She tossed him a product catalogue. “Look it over.”  
Ben started leafing through it.

“It's called reading,” said Rey sarcastically. “Top to bottom, left to right. Group words together as a sentence. Take Tylenol for any headaches. Midol for any cramps.”

“You know, you don’t need to be so mean to me.”

“I know,” Rey said and started to walk out the door. She thought about Ben teasing her frumpy clothing and got an idea. Maybe she would take him up on his offer-she had an advantage now she never did in high school. She turned to look back as she turned the corner. “See you at the wedding.”

Growing up, Rey had been shuffled from foster home to foster home, with never more than two or three changes of outfits to her name. 

She was used to hand me downs and cobbled together outfits like too short pants from a foster brother and an oversized shirt from a case worker or parent she had to tie at the bottom and sleeves to make fit. When she was a teenager at a group home, her guardian was a sweet woman named Amilyn Holdo, who had taken her under her wing and helped her find a few outfits that at least fit close to well and taught her a little about hair, makeup and clothing.

Unfortunately, being stick thin and awkwardly proportioned and having an eclectic at best and “dumpster-diver” at worst sense of style, Rey was never popular among her peers. She was never horribly mistreated but had a lonely adolescence watching the popular kids from afar.

After she had aged out of the system and gotten a scholarship to the community college and a job on the docks at Solo Auto Parts, she had finally found herself with a little extra money. Always a frugal person and never one to indulge in any non-necessities, her saving account had grown quite large, to the point where she could justify something completely wild. 

So, last year, Rey had bought a dress. She had driven to the city, found a high-end department store. And spent what she considered to be a ludicrous amount of money on a beautiful dress, tailored to her measurements and fit for any black-tie party. Not that she had many of those to attend, of course, but it had felt amazing to finally, at the age of twenty-five, have a beautiful dress that would only ever be worn by her, that made her feel like a millionaire. 

The dress in question had been hanging in her closet since she purchased it, waiting for an outing to justify its use. 

So now she was going to get dressed to the nines, attend the wedding of Han Solo, father of the most popular boy in school, and show off just how much had changed since high school.

Ben was discussing upcoming vacation plans to a bored looking Hux when Rey walked into the Solo Mansion for the pre-wedding cocktail hour. He immediately stopped talking and just stared.

Her rich brown hair, usually kept is two or three messy buns, was worn in a professional half up do, the ends spiraling into delicate curls and the top piled up with flower pins.

Her face, usually bare of makeup and freckled had light makeup, with smoky eyeshadow and pink lipstick, and she was wearing a dress. And not just any dress, a bright blue little thing that hugged every curve (when did she get curves? Ben suddenly wondered, mentally picturing the ill-fitting uniform from yesterday) and came up a few inches above the knee. She was wearing silver high heels and carried a tan clutch purse. Was this the same girl they called Scavenger in high school?

Her confidence faltered for a moment when she laid eyes on Ben Solo, looking pretty nice himself in a tuxedo she reluctantly thought, until she noticed how he was staring at her. 

Perfect. He had actually done a double take. She’d never seen anyone do that before, she though it just happened in movies. A waiter walked buy with a tray of champagne and she took a flute, drank a mouthful and walked over to Ben and Hux. 

She purposely ignored Ben and shot the red haired man a winning smile. He returned her smile and bent down to kiss her hand. “Charmed,” he said. “I’m Armitage Hux. And who might you be?” 

“Rey,” supplied Ben before she could answer, with a little more force in his voice than was called for. “She’s an accountant at Dad’s plant.”

“Ah, so smart and beautiful then,” Hux said. Ben’s brow furrowed and he pursed his lips as Rey laughed and smiled at Hux.

Well this was going even better than expected. Let’s see how a little flirting with the stepbrother would go over, Rey thought.

“Armitage? That’s such a powerful name,” said Rey with a giggle. “And I love your suit.”

“Thank you, my dear. Might I say, you look beautiful in that dress. Nice to see someone from this town with a little taste.”

Rey had to suppress a frown. Jakku wasn’t much, but it was her home and she didn’t like people talking bad about it. “Thank you for the compliment, Armitage.”

Before they could continue their conversation, Ben cut in. “Hey, Armie, it’s about to start. Let’s get Dad and take our places.”

Rey smiled and said good bye to Hux and gave a curt nod to Ben. “See you after the ceremony.”

The wedding ceremony was short but lovely. The immense backyard had been transformed into a fairy tale garden for the wedding. It was a beautiful late spring day, and Rey watched the ceremony happily. Han and Phasma seemed to be really in love, and though she had only met Phasma briefly at the plant she seemed to be a nice woman. She swallowed her bitterness about Ben now having three parents when she never even had one that ever gave a damn about her, and tried to focus on the happy occasion. 

One thing she didn’t have to pretend to be happy about was the food. She spent most of the reception hanging out around the buffet and eating as much cocktail shrimp as she could get away with. The champagne was flowing freely as well and she was starting to feel a little light headed. She wasn’t used to drinking much. 

“Well, Rey, I was wrong. You do clean up nice.”

She turned around at the sound of his voice and faced Ben. “You too,” she said without thinking. And mentally berated herself. “I mean, I didn’t know you even owned a hairbrush.”

Ben started to say something but his nose wrinkled at the smell of alcohol on her breath. “Rey, you think you should slow down on the champagne?”

“What do you care?” she said flippantly and took another sip. “Am I embarrassing you?”

“No, I don’t get why you’ve been so mean since I’ve been back. Weren’t we friends once?”

Her face went red. “Were we? You don’t get much of anything. You can’t even tell a brake pad from an oil can.”

“Is this about my job? Is that why you’re acting like this?”

“It’s not your new fancy job. Or your big perfect house or your new perfect family.” She was starting to slur now and words were spilling out before she could stop them. “You’re just a spoiled little rich boy without a care in the world. You’ve never had a consequence for anything. You’ve never-“

She was interrupted by a sudden crash and voices shouting out. “Help! Han, honey, what’s wrong?”

Ben and Rey turned and ran to the source of the sound. Han was choking and writhing on the ground, his face turning pale and then falling still. 

“Somebody call 911!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the lovely justpassingthrough for the story ideas!


	4. The Future of Solo Auto Parts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little short, but was the most natural place to break. Been down and out with the flu, but updates should hopefully be coming a little more frequently. Enjoy!

Ben could only stare in numb horror as his father’s coffin was lowered into the grave. The last few days activity, from a frantic ambulance ride to the doctor’s voice saying, “I’m sorry Mr. Solo, but we did everything we could” to this moment standing in the Jakku Cemetery listening to Amazing Grace on the bagpipes, had seemed to simultaneously last a handful of seconds, and stretch out over several thousand years. 

Father Kenobi, the family’s priest, had given a eulogy, as well as Han’s longtime friends and associates. Ben was asked earlier if he had anything he wanted to say but had just shook his head. Everyone had their eyes on him throughout the funeral, he had thought, and he could feel their disappointment with him. How could he possibly shoulder a legacy? How could he dream of living up to the great Han Solo?

After the funeral there was a small reception at the house. Phasma wore a short black veil over her hat, and Ben was seized with sudden pity for his stepmother, who had worn a white veil in the same house only days ago on a much happier occasion. She barely spoke to anyone besides Hux. Ben stood to the side, making polite conversation with the other mourners, shaking hands with his dad’s old poker buddy Lando and saying “thank you for coming” so many times to so many people it had started to lose its meaning. 

He moved through the room as if in a fog and was stopped by Finn, who enveloped him in a hug.

“I’m so sorry about your father, Ben,” he said sincerely. “How are you holding up?”

“Alright, I guess. I don’t think it’s really hit me yet.”

“I hear that. It was like that when my mom died. It’s okay to not be okay about it yet.”

Ben suddenly felt a lump in his throat and couldn’t reply, so he just nodded. 

His attention was drawn to the large foyer table, which was stacked with flowers and cards, some of which spilling over to the floor and chairs. Mostly traditional and some elaborate arrangements featuring lilies and white roses, a few splashes of color here and there but mainly it just looked bleak. 

Except one small arrangement looking half forgotten and a little askew, hidden among the others. Ben realized this one was arranged by hand, not professionally. 

An odd mix of daisies, colorful roses, and hyacinths, which had nothing to do with each other and clashed abruptly, poked out of glass purple vase tied with a pink ribbon. It was so unabashedly cheerful and eclectic, Ben smiled for the first time in days. He looked for the card, curious as to who this was from.

Expecting to see a printed card or something addressed “To the Solo family”, Ben nearly dropped the card in surprise when he saw what it said.

A simple white piece of card stock was scrawled with lopsided handwriting. There were several scratch marks, as if the person writing it hadn’t known what to say. What was left intact read simply:

_Ben,_  
You’re not alone.  
Rey 

 

“We're in real trouble,” said Margaret “Maz” Kanata, longest serving board member at the company meeting Monday morning. “Snoke Industries has an offer on the table to buy us out. But Solo Auto Parts has been family owned since Benny's great grandfather laid the first brick, and I’ll be damned if that's gonna change on my watch.” She hit her fist against the table as punctuation. 

“Maz, if we sell while our value's still high, everyone who owns stock in this company stands to make a lot of money,” argued Mr. Hutt, one of the silent investors. "That of course includes you, Mrs. Solo, now that you and Ben are the primary shareholders.”

“It seems vulgar to think about money at a time like this,” Phasma said quietly. Ben looked at his stepmother and gave what he hoped was a comforting smile. She smiled back.

“Mr. Ackbar, we do need that loan to keep us afloat until we figure things out,” said Maz.

“I'm sorry, Maz, we can't do it. Han got in way over his head when he built the new brake pad division. The bank just can't take any chance in putting up any more money.”

“Now, let's face it, when Big Han died, "Solo Auto" may have died with him,” pronounced Mr. Hutt.

“If this factory goes under, the whole town goes under,” protested Finn, who was there representing the shipping and receiving department. 

“Maybe I can help,” said Ben. He turned to address Mr. Ackbar. “I’ll give you everything I’ve got: my house, the stock. If I give you that stuff, as collateral, then would you give us that loan?”

Mr. Ackbar stroked his beard in thought. “Yes, I suppose so.”

“Wait a second!” said Mr. Hutt. "What are you saying, Ben? You just wanna hand over your inheritance?”

Ben nodded enthusiastically. A plan was coming together. There was something he could actually do, to help the town, to honor his father, and to finally make something of himself. “Right. If it'll help getthe brake pads going. My dad said the new pads were the future of "Solo".”

“But who's going to sell them?”

“I will,” said Ben. “I'll go on my dad's sales trip.”

“Hold on a minute! Do we really want to put the future of the company in Ben's hands?” said Mr. Hutt, addressing the room.

“We're running low on options here,” said Maz. “I can hold out Snoke for a couple of weeks. What have we got to lose?”

“How about the jobs of several hundred people?” said Chewy Bacca, representing Human Resources. “No offense, Benny, but you don't know the first thing about brake pads.”

“Hey, I know I’m not probably the answer you guys are looking for,” said Ben. “But I need to do something. And you’re right, I don’t know much about this stuff.” The thought of those colorful flowers suddenly came to mind and he had an idea. He looked across the table to Rey, who met his eyes briefly before looking down. “But she does.”

Rey snapped her head back up. “Oh, no.”

“That's right,” Ben said, standing up from his chair and walking over to her. “Rey knows more about brake pads than anyone in here. And…since the last job he gave you was actually to show me the ropes,” he paused to start flipping through the planner she had open in front of her, I see you have the rest of the year pretty much wide open.”

Rey sputtered a bit in surprise before replying. “No, no, time out. Bad idea. I don’t think anyone can help Wonder Boy here on the road.”

Maz tilted her head and looked at Rey. “You have a better idea?”

Rey moved her eyes across the room, and for the first time she saw a few flickers of hope. Looking up at Ben’s triumphant face, she sighed and resigned herself to this upcoming disaster. Just her luck.

Time for a road trip.


	5. Huge Embarrassing Disaster

An hour into their sales trip, and Rey had already contemplating running the car off the road no less than five times. She thought about what Finn would think, took a deep breath, and kept driving on. 

After the board meeting, where her fate for the next three weeks was decided, she’d met with Finn and a few other department heads to get a list of sales points of contacts together. Luckily, Han had quite a few regular buyers he’d maintained good relationships with over the years, so hopefully this would be a simple matter of explaining the new break pad line, make some sales, and get home. If they were able to sell half a million brake pads, they would be able to repay the start up loan, and the company would survive.

“Rey, I know you don’t want to do this, but think about Han,” said Finn after they were alone in the conference room. “Solo Auto Parts was his heart and soul, and it’s the heart and soul of this town. Remember, we employ half the town here. If the factory shuts down, Jakku will be a ghost town.”

“Wow, Finn, thanks, no pressure at all,” grumbled Rey. “I’m going to do my best, but Ben is not the salesman Han was.” She felt a lump form in her throat at the thought of speaking of her boss in the past tense. “I’m just praying our regular buyers come through for us.”

“You and me both,” said Finn grimly. After a moment’s hesitation, he added, “Rey, don’t be too hard on Ben. I know there’s some history there, but he just lost his father. And I know he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he does try.”

Rey furrowed her brow and pursed her lips. She started to argue, then thought better of it. Finn was probably right. She let out a sigh. “I’ll try.”

Now they were in Rey’s car on Tuesday morning, armed with a couple weeks’ worth of luggage (Rey had been surprised Ben had swapped his garbage bag for a simple but sturdy suitcase), a corporate American Express card, and a few brake pad samples, heading to the first sales call.

She and Ben had just begun a frivolous debate over whether Nacho Cheese Doritos counted as an acceptable breakfast. Rey had offered to go through a quick drive through, but Ben was currently getting his Dorito dust fingers all over her car interior.

“You better not get any of that on your suit,” Rey said in annoyance. “We don’t have time for you to change, and we can’t show up to the first meeting with you looking like you just finished a Call of Duty marathon.”

“Hey, Rey,” Ben said, absentmindedly wiping his hands on his pant legs and ignoring her entirely, “do you think the Nacho Cheese of the Cool Ranch flavor shell did better at Taco Bell? I always got the Nacho Cheese, but it seems like whenever I was with someone, they always got the Cool Ranch….”

“Ben, can you focus please?” Rey shouted. She was officially fed up with Ben, and his mindless drivel about taco shells. “This is not fun for me okay? This is not a vacation. This is work, I am here against my will, and we have an entire town depending on us!”

“Ok, Rey, I’m sorry, you’re right,” he chuckled nervously. “Why don’t you quiz me some more. I promise I was studying the manual all night.” 

“Alright,” said Rey, “First, what are the three grades of Solo Brake pads?”

“Personal, commercial, and….” Ben paused and concentrated. “And...agricultural!”

Rey turned to him and quirked an eyebrow. “Ok, good. And what is our carrying charge for all the merchandise in the warehouse?”

Ben started to open his mouth and then closed it. “It’s, ummm….”

Rey let him flounder for a few moments, then supplied, “One and a…”

“Half percent!” exclaimed Ben. “I knew that! Why can't I remember it?” He pounded at his head in frustration.

“Try an association, like, let's say the average person uses 10% of their brain,” said Rey. "And how much do you use? One and a half percent. The rest is clogged with malted hops and Dorito dust.”

Ben frowned but continued with the quiz the remaining few minutes before they reached their destination. He wasn’t doing as terribly as she’d feared, thought Rey. Maybe they could make this work.

But that thought was quickly dispelled as she leaned against her car outside their first appointment, watching the pathetic display of Ben Solo attempting to give himself a pep talk.

“Ok, I can do this,” he was muttering to himself, pacing around the car like a lunatic. “I’ve got this, I’ve got this, I gotta do this…”

Rey felt she had to interrupt before he spiraled out of control. “Uh, are you ready?”

“Yeah, yes,” he said. “Sorry. I’m ready. Het does this suit make me look dumb?”

Rey couldn’t resist another dig. “No, but your face does. Ok, lets check you out.” She adjusted his jacket and went to straighten his tie. When she pulled the fabric, it came off with a pop. “Ok. All right. This is a clip on,” she said with disapproval.

Ben offered an embarrassed smile. Rey rolled her eyes and continued.

“Alright now, it's sales time, remember we don't take no…”

“No kriff from anyone!” Ben said with enthusiasm.

“No.”

“We don't take no prisoners?”

Rey made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a growl. “We don't take no for an answer!”

“Oh yeah. We don't take no for an answer...”

But he did, because at not only the first, or the second, but the first three calls that day, they had been met with a “no” after their initial presentation, and Ben had just…got up and walked out. “Okie dokie! Thanks for your time!” and just gathered his things and walked out the door. Rey was horrified. Was that how Han would have handled things? He never took no for an answer, he could sell someone their own shoes!

But, at the next call in the town, Dameron Enterprises, they were both caught off guard when Poe Dameron, auto parts supplier and a potential big sale, said “Let me say…maybe.”   
Rey and Ben exchanged surprised glances.

“Well then,” Rey said, “I’d just like to add that the spectrometer read-out on the nickel-cadmium alloy mix indicates a good, rich strobe n' fade, decreasing incidence of wear to the pressure plate.

“Whoa, Miss Niima, you're not speaking my language,” said Poe.

“What my associate is trying to say,” Ben added, is that our new brake pads are really cool. You're not even gonna believe it!”

Poe’s amused smile dropped when Ben started to reach for one of the antique model cars that decorated his desk.

“Like, let's say you're driving along the road, with your family...” Ben ignored Poe’s silent protest as he pretended to drive the miniature Model T along the desk. “And you're driving along...and then suddenly there's a truck tire in the middle of the road, and you hit the brakes.” He made a screeching sound as the car slid to a halt in front of a paperweight. “Woah, that was close.”

Poe and Rey both chuckled nervously, and Rey jumped to try to cover over whatever that bizarre demonstration was supposed to be. But before she could, Ben grabbed a model red Thunderbird and started at it again.

“Now let's see what happens when you're driving with "the other guy's brake pads". You're driving along, you're driving along, and suddenly your kids are yelling from the back seat. "I gotta go to the bathroom, daddy!" Ben started using alternating voices for his psychotic one man show. "Not now, dammit!"

“Truck tire! I can't stop!” Ben slammed the car against the paperweight. “There's a cliff!”

For some reason Rey could only imagine was a complete nervous breakdown, Ben gabbed a lighter from the desk and lit the model car on fire, while Poe stared silently, struck dumb with horror.

Ben continued his show, oblivious to the other people in the room. “And your family screaming: "Oh my God, we're burning alive!" No, I can't feel my leg!”

“eee-ooo, eee-ooo” he mimed the sound of an ambulance. Rey absently wondered if there was a silent alarm and security would be called. “Here comes the meat-wagon! And the medic gets out and says: "Oh, my God!" New guy's in the corner, puking his guts out.” Ben took his focus of his pile of fiery destruction and looked up at Poe Dameron with a smile and completely undeserved look of triumph on his face. “All because you want to save a couple of extra pennies... and to me, it doesn't…”

Poe shouted furiously. “Get out! Now!”

Rey jumped to her feet and dragged Ben by the sleeve of his jacket. “Yes, sir!”

“Do you validate?” asked Ben, convincing Rey he had obviously experienced some kind of psychotic break.

“Now!”

Rey pulled be out of the office and practically shoved him back in the car. She wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. 

She drove a few minutes and pulled into a gas station. She was taking deep breaths and Ben was finally starting to look like he understood how massively he had messed up back at Dameron Enterprises. “I’ll, um, check the oil…” He got out and opened the hood. “Rey? We’re a quart low.”

Rey looked at him incredulously. “Oh, yeah? Then guess what, open it back up and put it in! That's your penance for your puppet show back there. And while you're at it, fill it up with gas, okay? I'm gonna ask directions to the next Huge! Embarrassing! Failure!” She punctuated the last three words with three angry smacks against the rook of the car. 

“You're a huge embarrassing failure,” muttered Ben.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“That’s what I thought,” said Rey, and she stormed off into the convenience store.

The clerk didn’t even look up from her book as she sat behind the register, her elbow on the desk and her hand propping up her head.

Rey glanced at her nametag. “Hey, uh, Alex, could you tell me how far it is to Davenport?”

“Seventeen miles.” She said in a bored monotone, not taking her eyes off her book. 

“Okay, well I can’t seem to find it on this map…” she trailed off, hoping her request for help was implied. 

“Well,” said the clerk, “get yourself a new map.” 

Perfect. Maybe she would never get directions to Davenport. Why would she need them anyway? So they could make a fool of themselves, sell out Solo Auto Parts, destroy the town, and eventually die alone and be buried in a pauper’s grave? Or maybe I’ll die in prison, thought Rey, after I strangle Ben Solo to death with a clip-on tie. 

She momentarily indulged in that fantasy, then decided to try again.

“Well, it's gotta be on the map, Davenport, because you say it's seventeen miles away. And you're really smart...” she paused for effect. “But yet its not on the map.”

Alex looked up, amused. “I'm picking up your sarcasm.”

“Well, I certainly hope so,” said Rey. “I’m laying it on pretty thick.”

Alex rolled her eyes, stuck a bookmark in what Rey could now see was Pride and Prejudice, and put it aside. She looked at Rey with a bored expression and gestured to the map. “That's a map of Illinois, which we're in. On the border of Iowa. Which is where Davenport is, seventeen miles away. You’re in the wrong state. So,” the clerk shrugged and held up her hands, “get yourself a new map.”

“Well,” said Rey. “That wasn’t so hard was it?” She sighed and mentally prepared herself to get back on the road. “How much do I owe you for gas?”

After glancing at the computer, the clerk picked up her book and settled back to reading. “You didn’t pump any.”

Rey quickly walked back out, to find Ben sitting in the passenger side of the car looking straight ahead.

“Why didn't you pump any gas?”

“They're all out. They only got diesel, “Ben said quickly. “Better go to the next station!”

Rey rolled her eyes and reached for the door handle to get in. As she pulled to open it, the entire door came off. She sputtered in surprise and Ben widened his eyes.

Rey’s eyes narrowed at him.

“What did you do?”


End file.
